Rep. Garcia acted properly by funding road project

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After that, however, she needed to back off and let others who live on Vista Montana Road resolve details to get it paved The Las Cruces Sun-News recently reported on state Rep. Mary Helen Garcia’s appropriating of $70,000 in taxpayer money to pave a road adjacent to her home and other property she and her family own. Since the article came out last week, several have suggested to me that this is an egregious conflict of interest. The state Republican Party even compared it in a news release to former state Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson’s appropriating money in 2003 for improvements to a road outside his district that improved access to a business he owns. I’ve been looking into the situation with Garcia’s Vista Montana Road appropriation, and I’ve found that it’s more complicated than the Rawson situation, but it appears to me that, for the most part, Garcia acted appropriately. The same can’t be said for Rawson. Continue Reading

What does Weh’s victory in non-scientific poll mean?

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Allen Weh narrowly won last week’s non-scientific poll on this site asking who should be the GOP nominee for governor next year. He’s trying to capitalize on that fact in a news release sent today. While pointing out that the poll isn’t scientific, the news release from the Weh campaign says the poll “on one of the state’s most popular political blogs” shows that Weh “is the preferred GOP nominee for governor in 2010.” “I’m thankful people took the time to participate,” Weh said in the release. “The results reveal that New Mexicans believe I’m the strongest candidate to take on Diane Denish in 2010. They’re tired of the corruption, and they’re tired of being ignored. Continue Reading

Bread and Circuses: ‘Shenanigans’

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Meet this site’s newest columnist. You can learn more about him by clicking here. He’s appeared on this site a couple of times in the past. Click here for those postings. By Philip Zakahi At the moment I live in a house with a rather large group of guys, all of whom attend, or have recently attended, American University. Continue Reading

Sanchez’s Facebook message reveals new reality

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I raised questions yesterday about why Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez was bypassing the traditional media and announcing that he’s formed an exploratory committee for a potential 2010 gubernatorial run via Facebook. The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Kate Nash does a great job today of piecing together what Sanchez’s brief Facebook note resulted in, despite the fact that there was no accompanying effort to reach the traditional media. Check it out: “Sanchez or his campaign over the weekend posted a 13-word status update on his page on the popular social networking site announcing the committee, and the word was out.“Albuquerque radio reporter Peter St. Cyr noticed the post, and put in on his blog, then on his Twitter page.“Blogger Matthew Reichbach promptly retweeted — that is, he posted a Twitter update referencing St. Cyr’s tweet — on his own Twitter page. Continue Reading

Sanchez says he’s formed guv exploratory committee

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Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez may be moving closer to running for governor next year. The Democrat from Belen posted a note on his Facebook page over the weekend stating that he “has formed an exploratory committee and is still contemplating a run for governor.” That’s it. No details. So it actually raises more questions than it answers. If he’s serious, why no news release? Continue Reading

Cornelius intends to run for land commissioner

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GOP activist Bob Cornelius has formed an exploratory committee “with the intent to seek the Republican Party nomination for New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands,” he announced Saturday in a news release. Cornelius is a former executive director of the Bernalillo County GOP. He briefly entered the 2nd Congressional District race in 2008 but ultimately didn’t file to run in the Republican primary. A native of Tatum in Lea County, he is currently working for the Public Regulation Commission in Santa Fe, assisting investigations of those who are suspected of committing fraud against New Mexicans. Growing up in southeastern New Mexico has given Cornelius a “unique perspective on the State Land Office and its vital role in our state government,” he said in the release. Continue Reading

Voters in poll split on 2010 GOP guv nomination

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There are apparently a wide variety of opinions about who the GOP should nominate for governor next year, according to last week’s non-scientific poll on this site. Of 438 voters, 123, or 28 percent, said the GOP should nominate Allen Weh, while 120, or 27 percent, said the party should pick Heather Wilson. Some 54 voters, or 12 percent, picked Janice Arnold-Jones, while 46, or 11 percent, picked Steve Pearce. Another 45, or 10 percent, picked Greg Zanetti, while 42, or 10 percent, said the GOP should nominate “someone else,” and eight, or 2 percent, said they don’t know. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

State agencies deny requests for subpoenas

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Like the New Mexico Finance Authority, investment agencies refuse to release subpoenas from the U.S. attorney’s office The State Investment Council (SIC) and Educational Retirement Board (ERB) denied today my requests under the state’s public records act for copies of any subpoenas related to investments that were sent to the agencies by the U.S. attorney’s office. In denying my request in a letter sent this afternoon, ERB General Counsel Christopher G. Schatzman cited the exemption to the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act that allows for denial “as otherwise provided by law,” and wrote in his letter that the federal public records law in some instances exempts records compiled for law enforcement purposes. While New Mexico courts have not addressed whether that federal exemption applies to state law, some other states’ courts have said it does apply there, according to Schatzman’s letter. The SIC’s letter, from Public Information Officer Charles Wollmann, says essentially the same thing in denying my request. The responses from the ERB and SIC are different from those I received recently from two other state agencies that have been subpoenaed in federal investigations. Continue Reading

Ortiz y Pino enters race for lieutenant governor

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The 2010 Democratic primary race for lieutenant governor got its third official candidate today when The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that state Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino is jumping into the race. Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, told the newspaper that, having been a senator only since 2005, it would take him years to gain influential legislative leadership positions. “I think if I’m going to have more of an impact, I should run for lieutenant governor,” Ortiz y Pino was quoted as saying. “I think it would be great to work with (Lt. Gov.) Diane Denish,” the newspaper quoted him as saying about the already announced 2010 gubernatorial candidate. “I have no ambitions beyond that. Continue Reading

Rattner reports worth as at least $188 million

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Steven Rattner, the head of President Barack Obama’s auto-bailout program and a man who has been linked to a New York pension scandal that has spread to New Mexico and beyond, was worth at least $188 million when he took the government job in February, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. That’s according to Rattner’s financial disclosure form. His worth includes, according to the Journal, “a sizable holding in an investment fund operated by the owner of Chrysler LLC.” Rattner, as I’ve previously written, gave $5,000 to Gov. Bill Richardson’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign and $15,000 to Richardson’s 2006 re-election bid, according to the money-in-politics Web site followthemoney.org. Richardson heads the State Investment Council (SIC), which manages the state’s investments. In October 2005, the SIC voted to invest $20 million with Quadrangle Group LLC. Continue Reading

Looking ‘through the fog,’ Zanetti wants to change NM

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The only declared 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate stakes his hopes on his ideas to change the state’s economy by ending pay to play and shrinking government, taxes and some regulation As he looks “through the fog” of the economic downturn and scandals plaguing state government, Greg Zanetti envisions a New Mexico in which the Rio Grande Valley’s high-tech corridor and the state’s rural industries are empowered to work together to make the Land of Enchantment the leader in energy and other issues. Zanetti, the only declared 2010 Republican candidate for governor, wants to do that through shrinking government, lowering taxes and decreasing the regulation of those more tangible industries in the rural areas, such as oil, gas, dairy and copper. But that doesn’t mean he favors blanket deregulation. The Albuquerque financial adviser has been warning for years as a local radio and television commentator about the problems with investment trends. He said the state has been morphing into “a giant casino” with its move into riskier and less tangible investments, and he favors more regulation of the financial industry. Continue Reading

AFSCME endorses Chávez in ABQ mayoral race

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The political action committee for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents some 3,500 city workers in Albuquerque, has endorsed Mayor Martin Chávez in his bid for re-election. It’s the first time AFSCME has endorsed Chávez in a mayoral race, though the union did endorse the Democrat in his unsuccessful bid for governor in 1998 over Republican Gary Johnson. The union and mayor have often been at odds in the past. Last year, Andrew Padilla, president of AFSCME Council 18, hammered Chávez for threatening to veto a binding arbitration bill that had been approved by the city council. A year earlier, when he was running for U.S. Senate, Chávez voiced support for such a proposal. Continue Reading

Lawsuit seeks to ease ballot access in New Mexico

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A man who says he’s running for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District seat next year is suing the secretary of state in an attempt to void laws that make it more difficult for minor-party candidates to get on the ballot. That candidate, Alan Woodruff, is joined in the lawsuit by the state Green and Libertarian parties. Woodruff said in a news release that the court action “isn’t just about getting on the ballot. It’s about the more fundamental principle that the voters are entitled to choices. Those choices should not be limited to candidates chosen by the two parties that have maintained a stranglehold on American politics for 100 years.” Woodruff said the lawsuit would simplify access to the general election ballot for minor-party candidates. Continue Reading

Why won’t Richardson answer question about Correra?

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As I wrote on Tuesday, Gov. Bill Richardson and his administration have taken strong action in response to the investment scandal that started in New York and has spread to New Mexico and other states. But those steps to address the situation came only after it became a national scandal that threatens to further bog down a governor who has watched his career sink in recent months because of a federal grand jury probe into allegations of pay to play in his administration. What was Richardson doing before all the eyebrow-raising dealing became known publicly? State officials say Richardson was, until the scandal broke, unaware of payments made to third-party marketers — those hired by investment firms to help them win state contracts — that are at the center of the controversy. So why does Richardson keep refusing to answer a related question being asked by Trip Jennings, a colleague of mine at the New Mexico Independent? Continue Reading

Teague seeks mandatory screenings to combat PTSD

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Congressman to propose mandatory mental health screenings for military personnel when signing up, before and after deployment and before discharge By Vicki Nisbett To deal with the problem of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the military, U.S. Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., unveiled a bill today that would require mandatory mental health assessments for service members upon induction, before and after deployment and before discharge. Teague announced the legislation, which is named for Las Crucen Kyle Barthel, at a news conference at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Las Cruces. After serving in Iraq, Barthel took his own life upon return to civilian life, a victim of PTSD. The legislation is titled The Kyle Barthel Veterans and Service Member Mental Health Screening Act. “Kyle reached out and sought treatment but was never able to get the mental health help that he needed and deserved. Continue Reading